Development of Spatially Explicit Water Depth Surfaces for the Everglades, Florida

Introduction

The Everglades Depth Estimation Network (EDEN) is a single integrated network of existing and new water-level gages that provides real-time telemetered water-level data and derives other hydrologic characteristics, such as water depth, recession rates, time since last dry period, water-surface slope, and hydroperiod across the greater Everglades landscape. Presented on a 400-square-meter grid spacing, EDEN offers a consistent and documented dataset that can be used to guide large-scale field operations, to integrate hydrologic and ecological responses, and to support biological and ecological assessments that measure ecosystem responses to Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP). Other geospatial information, such as soils and water-quality data, will be integrated with hydrologic data from this and other projects on a public website.

Data from a network of about 250 [we use 206] water-level stations in the greater Everglades operated by the Big Cypress National Preserve, Everglades National Park, South Florida Water Management District and U.S. Geological Survey, will be extrapolated to ungaged areas based on hydraulics, statistical analysis, and surface-water modeling. Ground-surface elevation data collected by the U.S. Geological Survey (Desmond, 2003) covers nearly the entire greater Everglades area and includes elevations to NAVD88 datum at over 50,000 points with 400-meter resolution. Daily estimates of water depths are computed as the difference between the modeled water surface and the modeled ground surface.

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